Guild Wars 2

I have never been able to seriously play a female character, I never connect with it and therefore don’t give a kitten about it. And if I don’t give a kitten about it, I don’t bother leveling or gearing it.

…who’s the FOTMiest of them all?

I’ve never played FOTM characters, sticking more to concepts. As a result I have a mesmer and an ele… (whom I haven’t played in ages).

I want to play something outrageously OP, in PvE. PvP/WvW has no interest for me. Which class would you say comes to mind when you think “whoa, these guys are so kitten OP, I hope Anet nerfs them sometime.”

I know that no FOTM stays at the top forever and fully expect a nerf of whatever I pick, but I have a max-level boost that I want to spend to just have some mindless fun while it lasts.

Had GW2 for a while and was quite active a long time ago, even went to the big HoT reveal at PAX South, but then my interest kind of waned.

I’ve always been an “alone together” PvE kind of guy – meaning, I need a strong solo character that I can use to run around maps by myself killing stuff and looking at the pretty surroundings, while BSing with some casual guildmates and teaming up for an occasional dungeon.

I have a level 80 Ele and a level 80 Mesmer, an artificially leveled-up level 80 Revenant (which I played for about 5 minutes and which felt awkward as all get out).

My main was the Mesmer for a while, then I wanted something with more punch and less pinky butterflies, so I mained Ele (I tend to stick with one character at a time for a long time). Then Ele’s visuals got nerfed, followed by the actual nerfs, and that’s when I called it quits.

I bought HoT when it was on sale for cheap, made a Rev, ran around in the Silverwastes a bit but just couldn’t quite hit the right stride.

So now I’m kind of torn between a few game options and thought I’d give GW2 another look. I’ve been reading the forums and it seems that the game has shifted heavily towards group content and even trinity-like system. Is this true?

Also specific questions:

- For my playstyle (roaming PvE solo), is Mesmer better now than it used to be pre-HoT?
- Have they fixed/changed Ele visuals? And did PvE ele get any buffs to make up for the nerfs it sustained?
- Is Rev still busted?

Look at it this way: if someone spoils Star Wars for you, you can save your money and not watch another installment of series known as “Tripe by J J Abrams: Crapping on Classics, Making Money and Lovin’ It!”

Ah yes, don’t care one way or another about the number of skills, I know it’s a point of pride for some players but not me really. If it gets the job done, it gets the job done, ya know?

On one hand, it’s nice that a long-awaited feature has finally been implemented (though really there should be a visibility toggle for every armor piece. RIFT can do it, why not GW2?). On the other hand – a rare drop? Why, ANET?

At least put it on the cash shop, I bet that would create a more predictable stream of RMT revenue.

Debating whether to splurge on HoT, and part of the consideration is whether I want to roll a revenant vs. continue with my established elementalist. I rarely have the time to main more than one character, so though I have several 80s, one (currently ele) is a main, and everyone else is relegated to the status of novelty.

I play exclusively PvE. I mostly solo, sometimes run dungeons or fractals, but my main source of enjoyment is exploration and occasional “hey, that monster looks big, wonder if I can beat it on my own” exercise. I’m certainly not the best elementalist out there, but I’ve been told that I’m good. I also know that PvE is considered “easy” and doable by any character, but to me it’s all about style and impact – I like to feel powerful.

So with all that in mind, how does Revenant do in PvE? I would especially love to see feedback from people who, like me, have mained an Ele for a long time. Thanks in advance.

Charming. It’s probably a karka.

Also, isn’t a pheonix a kind of berd? (inkwiring mimes wan2no).

The set reminds me somewhat of the Sigmarites from the new Warhammer Age of Sigmar tabletop game, which is not a bad thing at all.

I mained Elementalist before supernerf-downscaling patch hit, and it was fun. I have a mesmer too, who is fun but not as much fun as the Elementalist (IMO). I exclusively played PvE and sometimes zerged in WvW when I needed cash and gear.

I have a lowbie Guard as well, but he never quite clicked. I played an asura Engineer for the personal story achievement, and somewhat enjoyed the playstyle, it’s quite unique, but I never became invested in the character as I dislike asura in general.

I heard that the Tempest (Ele elite spec) is rather meh, and Chronomancer (Mesmer elite spec) is super awesome, but may therefore be nerf bait. I haven’t tried or researched the guard elite or the engi elite.

Post-supernerf-downscaling, the elementalist can still hold his own (I use staff mostly). But the power drop was so significant that I lost all interest in playing him. In lower levels I used to just look in the general direction of mobs and they’d melt, and now I have to fight it out with bandits in Queensdale nearly on the same level I have to fight it out with the top-level undead. It’s just heartbreaking, like someone took a bird and plucked half the feathers out of it, so while it’s still alive, instead of flying it can only sorta hop around. But if you don’t have a tricked-out 80, you probably won’t notice it. I haven’t even bothered trying the mesmer out after the nerf hit.

Anyway, back on topic – Ele was the most fun of all my characters, yes he’s squishy but you have good escape moves and mitigation (not the least of which is your damage), so I recommend maining Ele for PVE.

I support this. In fact, I would love to see an option to hide EVERY piece of armor, similar to what RIFT lets you do. It’s not unprecedented for NPCs to walk around barefoot (Jennah) or bare-chested (many Norn NPCs, even in the snow), and some outfits would look best with gloves hidden.

But “hide shoes” would be a great start.

Someone’s head’s gonna roll for the TOS violation…

Though an option to change the display name would be nice.

I used to play PvE, “used to” being the operative term.

I used to play PvE because exploration was fun, environments were pretty, and I had a blast watching my character grow and evolve. I had fun tweaking and tuning my build and seeing the results.

Then ANET simplified traits. Sure, respeccing became faster, but some magic was lost.

Then ANET simplified traits AGAIN and decided that I should be locked out of one trait line at all times. And more magic was lost.

Then ANET decided that as soon as I step a foot outside of a level 80 zone, my stats should immediately become inferior to those of lowbies in green gear. For some reason, now I have to use all of my abilities and fight for my life when I run into the same bandits I spanked in Queensdale when I was level 5. Oh wait – we do know the reason; it is because ANET mistook a handful of bored, whiney forum twits for vox populi somehow, and went “Yes Sir Colonel Nerfherder Sir! It shall be done as you desire!”

Then ANET asked for a full game’s price for an expansion that consists of one zone. I just laughed.

So now I just sit in LA, look at the crabby/lobstery buildings and collect my daily rewards, because frankly it is more satisfying than “awesome adrenaline-pumping action” of fighting a level 20 mob in the same fashion as I did when I was a level 20 in level 20 greens. I’m waiting to collect enough tomes to instalevel 2 characters, after that GW2 goes to Uninstall City. No, you can’t have my stuff. Maybe something will change someday.

Does that count as playing PvE?

So according to today’s patch notes they adjusted the downscaling some… which is nice I suppose, except I don’t see or feel any difference.

It is neither fair nor right than a low-level character in lower-tier gear should have more of ANYTHING than a downscaled high-level character in higher-tier gear. Regardless of the availability of traits, skills or sigils.

Nobody, or nearly nobody arguing against this nerf is arguing against downscaling in general. But it is obviously not done right, and it is not fair to high-level characters. At least the way it is currently. “LOL UR BAD” is not really a valid response here.

In general, scaling down has been weakened, and scaling up has been increased.
Stat scaling now better accounts for level ranges at which equipment begins offering more possible stats (e.g., one-, two-, or three-stat pieces of gear).
Rarity scaling now takes into account how close you are to the maximum available rarity when scaling up or down.
Some minor “stack on kill” sigils have had their values reduced.

Is this it, as far as patch notes go? Then it wasn’t terribly clear.

What is “weakened”? What is “increased”? (rhetorical question, as we now know).
Gear is supposed to account better for rarity. Does this mean that my exotic or ascended piece should give more of a stat than a best available green piece of the same level as what I’m scaled to? This isn’t what I’m seeing (green pieces are actually better when downscaled).

Anyway… if this is the official party line, then so be it I suppose. Too bad the nerf herders won out. GW2 was fun while it lasted. Have fun using nerfs as a marketing tool for HoT, ANET

We can all argue all day until blue in the face regarding the validity of the change, and it is perhaps subjective (you think it’s fun to play nerfed characters, I think it’s a slap in the face to reduce the time and effort I spent gearing up mine to the level below greened-out lowbies, and we both feel equally correct).

What does matter though is that the change was unannounced and unexplained; it is a replay, to a T, of the previous introduction of super-downscaling, which was eventually patched out. If ANET had come out and said “we feel that geared-up 80s are too powerful when downscaled, therefore we’re going to completely neuter them and if you don’t like it take a hike”, it would have been bad but overall acceptable. Major nerfs happen every day in every MMO, after all. But the fact that it was just jammed in with no explanation or reason is what upsets me the most.

Topic. That’s literally the only thing that keeps me from coming back to GW2 these days. I seriously dislike having my decked-out 80s having lower stats that lowbies in all greens.

I think GW2’s graphics hold up pretty well still.

Good analysis OP. Hopefully this will finally get ANET’s attention and they roll back the change just like they did the last time. Strangely, they didn’t comment on it at all back then.

We’ve seen this before, and it was patched out. I always thought that back then it was a trial balloon, and in the face of negative reaction it was deemed unsuitable.

I guess I was wrong.

Some people crow endlessly about “nerf to players but a HUUUUUUUGE buff to fun”, I personally dislike my 80s being on par or lower with lowbies in all greens as soon as I show up in low-level areas.

chemiclord.3978:

Khristophoros.7194:

My opinion is not from bigotry. I have a close family member who has been in transition for a few years and I don’t accept it. That is a much more real experience on the issue than most people have.

See… that’s the problem. Your “acceptance” means jack kitten. You don’t get to choose whether it’s acceptable or not. You get to shut your mouth and let other people choose how they want to live their lives.

Your opinion gets to be dismissed without merit, because that is all it deserves.

Sorry to break it to you, but that isn’t how society works. At least not outside of the “safe spaces” of Tumblr. There are things acceptable and unacceptable, both on personal and societal level.

And since you are so glib with your blanket statements, I suggest that you take your own advice. What goes for the goose goes for the gander, does it not?

Reading this thread one should note that that assorted vile statements, insults, accusations of every shade of bigotry and general belligerence are a-OK so long as “your heart is in the right place”. Which is trademark of progressives at large and SJWs in particular, but what is new under the sun?

I’d also like to draw attention to the statement from earlier in the thread:

No that implies that Kasmeer is a transgender too! Rejoice!

Setting aside the ridiculousness of “all mesmers must be trans” (mine sure as hell isn’t last I checked); how do lesbians in the audience feel about this? Cheese and marginal usefulness in actual fighting aside, Kas and Marjory play a significant part in the story and are GW2’s acknowledged “gay power couple”. How, then, does this attempt at a hijack look?

Guhracie.3419:

I think you’re confused about what a social justice warrior is if you think Gamersgate proves they are a vast majority in the gaming world. And why is SJW being used as an insult, these days? Like it’s somehow wrong to want social justice? Like we should just continue to marginalize people? How is it a positive thing to support marginalization and exclusion?

Au contraire, I know exactly what an SJW is; thanks to them, Gamergate became what it was rather than a minor and quickly forgotten scandal involving a sexually promiscuous wannabe “game developer” (but not really) and a few unethical journalists. I should also point out that had it remained a minor scandal, it would have probably done less damage to the same people it claimed to be “about”; so good jaerb to you and yours, I suppose.

Social justice is little more than Oppression Olympics these days, and your Instant Outrage (available in fine grocery stores next to instant coffee) illustrates just that.

If you happen to be downleveled while looking at your stats, then you are observing the New and Improved Super-Downscaling. Allegedly, 66% less DPS while downleveled. Enjoy!

Khristophoros.7194:

Fay.2735:

Well done Anet for encouraging tolerance. Keep up the great work!

I don’t see how this encourages tolerance. People aren’t going to change their opinion because of a transgender NPC in a video game. I say this because … well, you wouldn’t like my opinion on the matter. Anyway, now that I’m aware of this NPC I can assure you that it hasn’t influenced my opinion at all. It’s not a real person. It’s an NPC.

So I am not sure what the point of this is. I can see from this thread that it makes certain people happy but why? What is so great about this? Nobody is going to feel any differently on the issue due to the existence of this NPC.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

With utmost focus on constructiveness, here’s my opinion on this: yes, the NPC is inconsequential, avoidable and irrelevant. But he is also unnecessary and inflammatory; one could say unnecessarily inflammatory.

Now, we all know that gaming community is rife with SJWs, Gamergate being the most stark proof thereof. And while respectful of ANET’s decision, I’d like to note my disappointment in their desire to jump onto the social justice bandwagon du jour.

You’re entitled to your opinion(s), I’m entitled to mine.

The trait system was simplified, then simplified again. That’s all there is to it.

Of course things got cut or became inaccessible. Wicked shawkah.

So… you played with the majority of the playerbase? Good for you. I’m legit jealous now.

Einlanzer.1627:

Actually most people like the downscaling, and IMO it’s one of the best innovative features of this game because it allows for forward-gating without back-gating. One-shotting everything into oblivion is the opposite of fun.

Hear ye, hear ye! The representative of Most People has arrived! Welcome, Your Excellency!

You really oughtta be more careful with sweeping statements, especially when “most people” consist of you and a vocal minority of “hardcore leets” on the forums. Super-downscaling caused a crapstorm last time it was introduced, so there’s that for “most people”.

It’s not about how easy it is, it’s about the fact that when I’m anywhere but top-level areas, I might as well be a lowbie in all greens. My exotic and ascended gear is suddenly meaningless as soon as I zone. That is opposite of fun.

Awesome! I couldn’t budget for (or justify) both Witcher 3 AND HoT, and this definitely helps with the decision. By the time this BS gets patched out (and I’m quite certain it will), the expansion price will probably drop to something more reasonable too!

Welcome to the world of agile development. Where the end users are your unpaid QA department. If you think this is bad, try WORKING for a software company that subscribes to this nonsense. Minimal documentation, passive management, live builds go out every five minutes with minimal testing, and bugs aplenty. To someone whose career grew in a more traditional environment, it looks like the inmates running the asylum. Oh, but you do get plenty of “stand-ups”, “scrums”, “pow-wows” and other creative terms for meetings where everyone gleefully wastes time while discussing topics similar to how to put on pants.

That said, I learned to recognize the stench of agile development from a mile off, and GW2 positively reeks of it.

I actually can’t tell. Which is screwed up.

I know with full zerker gear and ascended trinkets, my crit chance is 9% in Queensdale and my crit damage buff is 151%. Which seems awfully low.

On the other hand, when the super-downscaling first snuck in, I remember having distinct difficulties with mobs I previously dominated. As in, a vet and two or three regulars utterly curb-stomped me (which doesn’t normally happen unless I’m asleep at the wheel). I couldn’t find a vet in Queensdale this morning, but I did find a dozen or so trash mobs (bandits near the farm that they attack), aggroed them all and wiped them without much trouble, though it seemed to take a bit longer than normal. Or not. I haven’t had my coffee yet.

I do have to say this to ANET… if super-downscaling has been reintroduced, that is one mother of a bad move. On the eve of a very pricy expansion, no less.

Did the super-downscaling return?
I haven’t had a chance to go anywhere low-level yesterday.

Didn’t have much time to spend in LA last night, but of what I saw, I agree with the OP: it is beautiful.

Curses, ninja’d! I had it in mind to start a thread with this same title.

But yes, the new Revenant functionality as a dedicated healer is a bit alarming. I suspected for a while that ANET might try to shake up the game by slipping in the holy trinity, but until now thought it was just the paranoia of an old, jaded gamer who had been burned too many times in the past.

Perhaps it wasn’t just paranoia.

I certainly like looking at cute female characters, but I can’t play one myself. In order for me to commit time to playing a character I need to care about it. And in order to care, I have to connect.

I can’t connect with a female avatar. I enjoy the eye candy but I can’t shake the “this isn’t me” feeling. I would sooner play a male asura or charr (and I don’t like either race much) than a female.

Favorite unlocked: Veteran. I imagine myself with a bronze ring around my portrait when people click on me.

Want: GWAMM, but I never played GW1, so I’ll never have it. Barring that, the Blazing Light or Legendary Champion I guess.

Dislike: Combat Healer and Been There, Done That. Both are cheesy. Why couldn’t Combat Healer be “Field Medic” or something less game-y? And BTDT should be something more befitting an intrepid explorer, rather than imply boredom.

Want created: military rank (Captain, Major, etc) and noble titles (Sir, Count, Lord, etc).

Cloth is acquired through RNG as opposed to mining nodes (the home node doesn’t count).
You need a crapton of silk alone to craft Damask.
You need almost a crapton of lower-level cloths that you can only get via diminishing returns or by buying them off lower-level players.
And you need Damask for all three types of armor.

No wonder it’s a clusterkitten. And tailors get the brunt of it.

Lowering the number of silk scraps per thread would be a kitten good start.

PvE is broken. Horribly, utterly broken. It has been broken on the day of release and it will always be broken.

It is broken in GW2, it is broken in WoW, it is broken in RIFT and it is broken in every MMO that has been made and will ever be made.

This sentiment is expressed by the “top 0.01%”, “creme de la creme de la creme”, “elitist jerks” or whatever you want to call the segment of the players that have mastered the game’s most efficient strategies and tactics, have conquered every challenge and are now bored and bitter. These same players take to the forums to grouse and nerf-herd endlessly, whether it be about the lack of challenge or about the fact that “noobz w/no skillz” can clear the same content as the elites, albeit with more effort. They demand fundamental alteration to the game’s mechanics, they constantly bag on the game’s meta because the meta is inadequate or downright awful and encourages “bad players”. They post lengthy and detailed explanations as to why the game’s dev team would be served better to abandon their vision and bow to the collective wisdom of those blessed with the top DPS.

On such occasions when nerfs happen (and they may or may not be related to the demands of the elites), they are immediately met with a storm of cheers, followed inevitably by a second storm of compassionate “lol git gud cashul” advice to the remaining 99.99% of the player base whose experience just got turned on its head.

Time marches on though, and at about three months mark bitterness and boredom begin to stir once again, and the cycle begins anew.

Because PvE is broken. Horribly, utterly broken. It has been broken on the day of release and it will always be broken.

I would like it to be handled like it was handled in Fallout: New Vegas. There, when you leave the tutorial, the game asks you if you are happy with your character or would like to change something.

Tutorial gives you a decent amount of time to examine your character and decide what you like and don’t like when you see it in the game world (as opposed to the creation screen), and the one-time free makeover would be very handy and not exploitable.

Do you also want a key to the flat where all the money is?

It won’t happen. Ever. ANET wants you to need different weapons and armors because you spend time and currency on them. Time and currency more often than not translates into money for ANET. ANET needs money.

Be thankful they allow for stat swaps on legendaries.

World bosses spawn according to schedule. I think I’ve seen Tequatl punch a punchcard when he showed up last time.
The new dailies suck, but you have to do them. Of course people will crowd into the target map and zerg.
Megaserver is mega. It’s like being in WoW PUG all the time. You can be as nice or a gigantic kittenbag all you want, because chances are you won’t see anyone you saw today ever again.

You don’t like zergs, what’s the alternative? The dailies can be fixed by bringing back the old dailies. Maybe. The world bosses can’t be instanced, or they wouldn’t be world bosses. Lowering map pop cap will just frustrate people who want to play together – I am personally sick of having to camp the map with the world boss an hour ahead of time just so I can play with my guildmates.

Surnames help in almost every situation.

I would propose making every armor piece toggle-able before adding more armor sets; this way anyone could use current armor sets and still go shirtless/pantsless/barefoot if they felt like it. Would be particularly interesting for the norn because of their tattoos.

It worked just fine in RIFT, let’s see it in GW2.

Take a useless aspect of the game and make it MORE useless. Awesome idea.

I’ve always wondered why exactly the unobtainable armor became unobtainable.

Were some pieces buggy and didn’t work for certain races/genders/body shapes?

That would actually make me want to play a Charr.

OP – please. For the love of god, PLEASE. Tell me you don’t own any cats.
Or any dogs for good measure.
And if you do, please turn your pets in to the Humane Society.

Because anyone asking for a “seductive” outfit for an animalistic race has some serious wires crossed in the ol’ noggin.
You didn’t ask for “skimpy”, mind you, which I wouldn’t have a problem with. You asked for “seductive”. Two big differences as we say in Odessa; look it up.

Your thread title is, quite frankly, disgusting.

I would pay good gems for the tribal armor.

ANET! You hear me? Take my kitten money!!